Early Early Writing

Steve and I both found this NY Times article yesterday (you can use "songdog.net" as username and password) but it's taken me a while to post: Seven years ago, Egyptologists John and Deborah Darnell discovered a tableu in Gebel Tjauti, Egypt, which may be the earliest form of writing ever found. The tableu is estimated to date back 5,250 years, making it possibly older even than the Sumerian writing previously believed to be the oldest. It may depict (no kidding) the King Scorpion (a historical figure and the inspiration for the coming would-be blockbuster "The Scorpion King"). John Darnell describes the tablet as "proto-hieroglyphs" -- not quite writing, but well on the way. The Darnells describe their research in a book to be published this summer.